Tonyboy Reviews

The Daily Show (1996– )

Once-smart show that has grown a wee bit stale

[6/10 · 3 October 2006]

There's a great scene in the second episode of Aaron Sorkin's new show, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, where the writers for a SNL-like comedy show are all pitching stale Bush jokes and blunt political satire.

I know this is the unpopular opinion, but something tells me that The Daily Show's writer's room looks something like that these days.

Whereas this show used to be much more intelligent in its criticisms, it has devolved to making fun of everything political and just general cynical commentary. You can see the jokes coming from a mile away -- out of context clips from press conferences and news shows, Stewart's impressions, and the correspondents' wrong-is-right dialogues.

For my money, the show has jumped the shark. I think the audience secretly knows it, too, because their biggest applause don't go to the comedy, they go to every anti-administration comment made, no matter how unfunny.

Family Guy (1999– )

Losing its edge

[6/10 · 26 September 2005]

While I know that I run the risk of being chased out of town for saying this, I feel that since the beginning of Season 5, the show has lost its edge.

90% of the jokes in "Family Guy" fall into one of 3 categories: 1) Jokes making fun of pop culture (especially old TV shows and celebrities) 2) Gags that run so long that they become absurd 3) Flashbacks, most of the time introduced with "This is more ___ than that time I ___"

I'm sure that a lot of people find this stuff funny, but after 4 seasons with this kind of humour, it just becomes so expected that it ends up being routine. This doesn't do it for me.

I still like this show and I think it has a lot of potential, but it needs some new ideas!

Las Aradas (1984)

Positively chilling

[8/10 · 16 October 2003]

I saw this piece of work in a film production class, and I found it absolutely chilling. By using a single shot of a beach on the Sumpul river, the site of the massacre in Las Aradas, El Salvador, Janis Lundman emphasises the absolute horror of the massacre with the beauty of the landscape. This, to me, made a pretty powerful statement about humankind, and the kind of power we have to transform a peaceful site into just the opposite.

As a work of art, it is impressive and virtuous, but I think the real power of this piece comes from the statement it makes about art, humanity and war. I find it quite amazing that a short 8-minute, single-take documentary like this one could, in the end, be many times more violent than a blood-fest such as 'Kill Bill'.

Advertising and the End of the World (1998)

Interesting if you're into talking heads

[6/10 · 18 June 2003]

"Advertising and the End of the World" is a really interesting documentary, but unfortunately, it also stands as an example of why many people prefer to commit ideas like the ones in this movie to other media. For example, this movie was shown in a sociology class I took, and despite the ideas presented in the documentary, it was clear that there were too many "talking head" shots and not enough visuals.

It's too bad, really, because other filmmakers such as Mark Achbar and Peter Wintonick have managed to make Noam Chomsky (the ultimate talking head) appear as though he was on MTV while preserving the cogency of his ideas (cf: "Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media"). I had high hopes for this documentary as well, but was ultimately disappointed by what could have been, especially given the breadth of the topic and the plethora of rich visual examples available.

Dude, Where's My Car? (2000)

Dude, how did this get funded?

[4/10 · 24 December 2002]

No, seriously -- how did this get funded? The writing is terrible, predictable while the humour is flat, cliché and sometimes racist. It amazes me that stuff like this gets made. Ashton Kutcher and Sean William Scott are totally typecast from this movie onward.

Variations on a Cellophane Wrapper (1972)

Ahead of its time

[8/10 · 10 August 2002]

Who would have thought that what we often hear in contemporary music -- sampling -- would have been tried back in 1970 with a 2-second clip of a woman in a factory handling a large cellophane wrapper?

The beauty of this film comes from its insistence that a simple movement which would likely be performed many times in a single hour could totally consume one's senses. Indeed, despite the apparently banal subject matter, Variations on a Cellophane Wrapper not only shows us, but teaches us how to see the world differently.

Even if you're not a big fan of experimental cinema, I strongly advise that you don't turn down an opportunity to view this film. If you open your mind to what can be presented to you, you'll find those 9 minutes well spent.

Boogie Nights (1997)

This film took 152 minutes of my life away, and I want them back!

[5/10 · 10 August 2002]

**MINOR SPOILER**

Boogie Nights was perhaps one of the worst movies I've seen in a long time.

I found that the story began in a promising manner, but I quickly lost interest after realizing that the entire story was simply a giant cliche: actor gets discovered, actor makes it big, and actor falls from glory. Anderson tries to conceal his formulaic fable by adding in a few gimmicks: well-known actors, nostalgic 70s music, a few entertaining scenes, his trademark long-shot, etc...

Simply put, I think the story lacked depth. The open-ended nature of the story provided no global goal for any of the characters to achieve, and the last hour of the film felt unterminable.

Then again, as I read over the other comments, I see that perhaps this is one of those "love / hate" movies. In any case, if you really must see it, I advise you to rent Boogie Nights along with another movie, and if you find yourself thinking "Where is this going?" early in the story, you can start watching your second movie and answer "Back to the store".

Monster's Ball (2001)

Not depressing -- melancholic

[2 August 2002]

Monster's Ball, to me, was not as depressing as the other comments suggest. Rather, it is a sublimely melancholic exploration of one man's fight to free himself from his past.

The acting was as excellent as the ambiance was overwhelming. The only thing that stopped this movie from being a masterpiece in my books was the slow pace, which did a great deal to set the mood, but got tedious as the film went on.

From a formal point of view, the film is visually stunning in its simplicity, usually trading in flashy, gimmicky, visual effects for minimalist lighting and sober editing. A soft, echoey aural leitmotif further accompanies and develops the film's mood and texture, although I found that some of the music used got repetitive as the movie progressed.

All-in-all, a stunning achievement. I must say that it is quite rare to see such melancholy outside of an urban setting, which is what makes Monster's Ball that much more unique.

The 'Burbs (1989)

It'll give you nightmares. That, I can guarantee.

[10 May 2001]

I remember watching "The 'Burbs" when I was younger. That night, I remember having nightmares and waking up in a cold sweat, not being able to sleep at all that night. Now that I'm a bit older, I've had a chance to review the movie, and if I have nightmares tonight, it won't be because it scared me the way it did when I was a kid, but rather because of the way I was bored during most of the movie.